Album Review: Markus Schulz – Los Angeles ’12

The king of progressive trance, Markus Schulz, sculpted a compilation of epic proportions with his Los Angeles 2012 mix.

This 27 track 2 disc album begins with sounds familiar to LA, a mix of car horns and ocean waves that might sound foreign together if not for the talented blend from San Andreas Soundlab’s “Hollywood Boulevard.” Those horns melt into the background of this soft, balearic, track. Danilo Ercole’s “A Man With Two Names” begins Markus’s build toward the big room sound we’ve grown accustomed to, powered by drums and basic synth melody. Wellenrausch – “Million Miles to Run” is the first vocal track on the compilation, and is a bit more downbeat than we’re used to with some of Markus’s recent Dakota tracks. This trend continues with Klauss Goulart’s “Sweet Little Pepper” a beautiful track that takes a couple minutes to really get you shakin on the dancefloor.

Next up, “Rebels Without a Cause & York,” is a cacophony of electronica, with a higher BPM level. Less melody here, more pure sounds and thumpin.

The first of two tracks by Basil O’Glue is found with his bomb, “Doublespeak Effects.” As this track builds to the break it has big room progressive written all over it! It’s one of those tracks you just picture yourself dancing with your girl in the center of the club too. Markus never discriminates against the ladies, and chose Nifra’s “Dark Harbour” as his next selection. The name is quite fitting, as this one has a heavy bass and drum combo with a deep, background melody. Powerful track for sure. One of the more pure melodic tracks on either album is Erick Strong vs. Dart Rayne – “Shamballa.” For those of you who like your trance uplifting, this is a solid pick for you. Danilo Ercole – Quasar has a few layers of trance goodness strung together. Beat Service – Fortuna… patience young Jedi. Amazing breakdown that will blow up the club. Definitely worth the slow build up.

Album one ends with Markus Schulz’s own “Bolandish.” It’s the only track of his own that he included on this album, and I for one am definitely psyched to hear him drop it live at Pacha on Feb 24. This is another track that builds up on you. Each layer is carefully laid on top and the synth melodies work perfectly, as per the norm from the progressive trance master.

07. Mr. Pit – Pole Position – By now most trance fans are quite familiar with Mr. Pit, and he doesn’t disappoint with this up tempo progressive trance hit.

09. Omnia & Ira – The Fusion – My personal favorite track from the album. Such a unique sound catches your attention from the very beginning, and then develops into an amazing vocal sound melodic bomb with a secondary synth melody that explodes at the breakdown. I would love to hear this one at Pacha!! Simply awesome!

10. KhoMha’s track “Artemis” has one of the more beautiful intros to a trance track I’ve heard lately. I personally wasn’t blown away by the development of this one or it would be in my top few selections from the album.

14. Mr. Pit – River of Hearts – Wonderful way to end the journey down 27 of the top progressive trance tracks of the past few months. This one slows things down just a notch, but leaves you on the dance floor always wanting more of Miami’s top producer, Markus Schulz.